74. Roman
This was not how I’d planned it. Not at all. It was ferocious and sweaty and wonderful. The nymph came, crying my name as I pulsed inside her, making up for three torturous months. And when she opened her eyes and looked at me the way she always did, it struck me how beautiful she really was. The kind of beauty that would galvanize a king to abdicate his throne.
With quivering lips still puffy from the kiss, she made a breahtless effort to repeat her reason for coming here tonight. “So, yes. You have to leave Chatoise as soon as possible, please.”
My laugh echoed off the walls and she tried to sever herself from me, but I wouldn’t let her. “What’s so damn funny?” she asked tersely. “I’m not even kid—”
But her words were smothered by another kiss, and I kissed her until her knees buckled and she became pliant again. “I adore you, honey badger,” I whispered hoarsely. “I worship the ground you walk on. I revere every word you say. And when you get so testy, you make me want to do things to you.”
She came unglued. “God, please don’t say things like that, just don’t. It’s not fair. So pack your bags and go back to your little empire in America.”
My finger drew a hot trail over her cheek and jaw. “Oh I think you should know by now that nothing about me is little, my sweet.”
And to emphasize that fact I pushed myself against her like a promise, or a thinly veiled warning. She writhed underneath me and aired a sweet little whimper. “Maybe one more time, but just once.”
My fingers curled around the nape of her neck, and I savored the warmth of her skin. My thumb slipped to the hollow in her throat, where I could feel her quickening pulse.
“After that, I can count on you to leave promptly, right? Like ASAP.”
Of course, none of that sounded even remotely genuine, and I couldn’t help biting a smile.
“Only if you listen to what I have to say first,” I said.
She sighed, exasperated. “I can’t do what you’re asking me to do, so save your breath.”
“And what is it you think I want you to do?”
“You want me to be your girlfriend in the south wing, while you make a family with someone else.”
This time I severed myself from her, and tried to bring a modicum of order to myself and Isabel, pulling down her t-shirt and yanking up my pants. The conversation I was about to have would change both our lives forever. Or so I hoped.
“Suppose I didn’t have to marry Geneviève, and all my obligations to the empire were dissolved, how would you feel about that?”
She sighed. “God knows I’ve really missed you, Roman, but this isn’t fair, barging into town and upending my life all over again.”
“Then perhaps you should answer me, my sweet. I asked you a question.”
She bit her lip. “You mean like, if you were a normal guy?”
“Sure, if you really feel you want to use that term.”
“Then I would say that perhaps I could see a future with that man.”
“Perhaps?”
“Roman.”
“Isabel.”
“I wouldn’t be able to see my future without that man.”
This was what I wanted to hear. This was the moment that would change everything. I cupped her face, and met her emerald gaze. “I resigned from the Belmont Trust. I’m a free man.”
Her mouth opened and closed, the pulse in the hollow of her throat accelerating at rapid speed . “You did what?”
“I resigned. Byron is a capable man. He’ll do my father proud.”
“And why did you do that?”
“Why did King Edward abdicate his throne? Because he couldn’t be without the woman he loved by his side.”
I expected Isabel to cry, to climb into my lap and crawl into my arms. But she did none of those things. Instead she went as pale as the moon in the sky, and stared at me with those big green eyes.
“How will you feel about that five years or ten years from now?” she asked. “It’s what you’ve been doing all your life.”
“I’ll be fine. With some luck I can still have a role in the business. I just won’t be running it.”
She shook her head, incredulous. “So what does that mean for us, Roman?”
I lifted a stray curl from her cheek and draped it behind her ear. “It means it would be an honor to have you as my wife. And it also means I want as many little Belmonts as you are willing to have with me. Most importantly, I want to make you happy, and I want you to know that I will love you as long as I live.”
Then she cried, tears dripping down her cheeks, and I kissed them away one by one. “And if you give me a second I’ll do this properly,” I said.
One last little sob escaped her throat. “What do you mean?”
“Okay, this isn’t the ideal situation but I’m going to work with what I have here. I came prepared, there is a ring. So if you’ll give me a minute to get it, I’ll be right back.”
Before I could stand, she put her hand on my arm. “Roman, wait…”
My heart stopped. No, no, she was not going to tell me that this wasn’t what she wanted, was she? And now she just sat there staring at me and brandishing a whimsical little grin, as if she was about to admit she’d decided to become a nun.
“You’re worrying me now,” I said. “Please don’t do that.”
“Well, I have to tell you something,” she said mysteriously, alarming me even more.
“If you tell me you’re about to become a nun, fair warning: I will go and live in the monastery and we’ll see how long it takes before they kick us both out of Chatoise.”
And there it was, that raspy laugh that I wanted to follow me into the afterlife. She leaned forward and kissed me softly, a demure little kiss that was meant to soothe me.
“Remember the night I came back to Belmont Manor after being away for four days?” she said softly.
“Do I remember it… Jesus, it was all I could think about for three months, Isabel.”
“No, the good part. Not the bad part. Well, anyway, during the four days I was gone I got the stomach flu and having that doesn’t work well with taking the pill. So the night I went back to Belmont Manor, you and I made a baby. So, I’m pregnant and it’s a little scary. Are you okay with that?”
It was my turn to gape, my gaze dipping to her abdomen, and I struggled to find all the right words. “You’re having a baby? Am I okay with it? Isabel, yes, it’s wonderful! Oh God, we were pretty rough earlier, you should’ve told me. You should have told me to be more careful.”
I pulled her to me and held her so close I could feel her heart flutter against my chest. My voice was soft and reassuring. “You have so much love to give, you’re going to be an amazing mom. And I can’t wait to be a dad. We’re going to do this right. Now can I please just propose to you because the little Belmont just put the pedal to the metal here.”
As I sprinted upstairs to get the ring, all I could think was that this must be what true happines felt like.